SPIRE Academy's New Coach, Michael Larkin, Ready to Run New Cross Country Program

GENEVA, Ohio, March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SPIRE Academy—a sports academy located in Geneva, Ohio—is excited to announce the hiring of Michael Larkin to head up its new cross country program. Cross country will be an addition to its existing track-and-field program.

"I first coached at William & Mary," said Larkin. "I was a volunteer coach. Working there is what inspired me to continue coaching—experiencing up-close the impact the full-time coaches had not just on the athletes but on the college and the community. They built all that. So when SPIRE presented me with the opportunity to start a cross country program, I thought, we can make something special here. Something world class for the school, the student athletes and the community. The facilities are here. We just need to put in the time and effort."

Larkin was a cross country runner in high school. In college, he switched to hurdles. He attended graduate school at William & Mary for the academics, but also because it was the only place that allowed him the opportunity to coach while he earned his degree. "When I began coaching," said Larkin, "I wasn't sure I wanted to do it as a profession. I had been a school psychologist. William & Mary let me attend graduate school and volunteer as a coach. So I spent four years there learning the nuts and bolts of each event, and learning how to train for each event. It was my education as a coach."

Larkin's first paid coaching position was at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania. He then became Head Coach at Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Ohio. He also worked as a volunteer assistant coach at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey. Somewhere along the line, his coaching philosophy naturally emerged. "For any athlete, you are where you are," said Larkin, "and you need to train for that. For example, if you're growing, and you're now six inches taller than you were last year, you have to relearn your event for your changed body. Or maybe you're an aging athlete, and the body isn't as resilient as it used to be. You need to train for that, then."

For cross country, Larkin's philosophy is even further dialed in to "the nuts and bolts" of coaching, the nuanced approach each event requires. "To me," said Larkin, "what sets a cross country athlete apart from other track-and-field athletes is work ethic. They spend so much time alone, so much time doing hard work unsupervised. I'd love to be with every cross country runner for every step of their 12-mile run, but I can't. So they have to be very self-motivated in their approach, as well as very self-critical when it comes to their technique, to be successful."

As for his position at SPIRE—not just slotting into an existing program as a new coach, but building out a whole new program on top of being a new coach—Larkin looks forward to the challenge of every day being different, and how as a coach you're making continual adjustments because every student athlete is different. "With high school cross country runners," said Larkin, "you're building them up strength wise, both in terms of increasing mileage and increasing body strength in the weight room, the latter of which contributes enormously to overall resilience. Otherwise, I tell my athletes you don't have to do anything special to do something extraordinary. That is, keep doing what you did to get here and you'll progress. I've seen this approach play out successfully time and again. It helps the kids stay calm and focused."

Media Contact:
Monica Kolbay
[email protected]

About SPIRE Academy

SPIRE Academy is a comprehensive academic, athletic, personal skills and college-and-career development boarding school located in a world-class event and wellness complex located in Ohio's Harpersfield Township. Constructed on 750 acres under 850,000 square feet of roof, SPIRE Academy (spireacademy.com) has five divisions: (1) SPIRE Academy & Camps, an accredited college-preparatory international boarding school and multi-sport/specialty training and development academy for grades 9-12 and post-grads; (2) SPIRE Leagues, Clubs & Professional Teams, including SPIRE Academy affiliated leagues and club programs; (3) SPIRE Events, a facility and associated team that host local, national and international tournaments and events with the NCAA, the Big East, Big Ten, Atlantic 10 conferences, the Olympics and world championship qualifiers; (4) SPIRE Institute, the research and development arm of SPIRE Academy, studying performance improvement across multiple disciplines through corporate affiliations and university relationships; and finally (5) SPIRE Fit, a membership-based fitness, swim, personal training and health center open to the community. Sports currently featured at SPIRE Academy include men's and women's basketball, esports, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

SOURCE SPIRE Academy